Alexander Hay Japp
Alexander Hay Japp (26 December 1837 - 29 September 1905) was a Scottish poet, miscellaneous author, and publisher. Life Youth and education Japp was born at Dun, near Montrose, the youngest son of Alexander Japp, a carpenter, by his wife Agnes (Hay). After the father's early death, the mother and her family moved to Montrose, where Alexander was educated at Milne's school.Norgate, 362. At 17 Japp became a bookkeeper with Messrs. Christie & Sons, tailors, at Edinburgh. 3 years later he moved to London, and for 2 years was employed in the East India department of Smith, Elder, & Co. Smith Williams, the firm's literary adviser, once took him to see Leigh Hunt. Returning to Scotland owing to illness, he worked for Messrs. Grieve & Oliver, Edinburgh hatters, and in his leisure in 1860-1861 attended classes at Edinburgh University in metaphysics, logic, and moral philosophy. He became a double prizeman in rhetoric, and received from Professor W.E. Aytoun a special certificate of distinction, but he did not graduate. At Edinburgh he was much in the society of young artists, including John Pettie and his friends. Turning to journalism, he edited the Inverness Courier and the Montrose Review. Publishing career Having settled in London in 1864, he joined for a short time the Daily Telegraph.' While writing for other papers, he acted as general literary adviser to the publishing firm of Alexander Strahan, afterwards William Isbister & Co., and aided in editing their periodicals, Good Words and Sunday Magazine (from 1869 to 1879), as well as the Contemporary Review from 1866 to 1872, while Dean Alford was editor. He also assisted Robert Carruthers in the 3rd edition of Chambers's Cyclopædia of English Literature. In October of 1880 Japp started as a publisher, under the name Marshall Japp & Co., at 17 Holborn Viaduct; but bad health and insufficient capital led him to make the venture over to Mr. T. Fisher Unwin in 1882. From that year to 1888 he was literary adviser to the firm of Hurst & Blackett.Norgate, 363. Writing career Japp was a versatile and prolific writer, often writing under pseudonyms as well as in his own name. In addition to "H.A. Page’ and "A.F. Scot" he wrote under the pseudonyms "E. Conder Gray"" and "A.N. Mount Rose." In his own name he issued in 1865 Three Great Teachers of our own Time: Carlyle, Tennyson, and Ruskin, of which Ruskin wrote to Smith Williams: "It is the only time that any English or Scotch body has really seen what I am driving at — seen clearly and decisively." As "H.A. Page" he published The Memoir of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1872; with several uncollected contributions to American periodicals); an analytical Study of Thoreau (1878); and his chief book, De Quincey: His life and writings; with unpublished correspondence (supplied by De Quincey's daughters) (2 volumes 1877, 2nd edition 1879, revised edition in 1 volume 1890). In his own name Japp issued a selection of De Quincey's Posthumous Works (vol. i. 1891; vol. ii. 1893) and De Quincey Memorials: Being letters and other records here first published (1891). Japp's interest in Thoreau brought him to the acquaintance of Robert Louis Stevenson. The 2 men met at Braemar in August 1881, and Japp's conversation attracted Stevenson and his father. Stevenson read to Japp the early chapters of Treasure Island, then called The Sea Cook, and Japp negotiated its publication in Young Folks. Subsequently Stevenson and Japp corresponded on intimate terms; and Japp's last work, Robert Louis Stevenson: A record, an estimate, and a memorial (1905), was the result of the friendship. Japp tried many forms of literature. Under a double pseudonym he issued in 1878 Lights on the Way ("by the late J.H. Alexander, B.A., with explanatory note by H.A. Page"), a semi-autobiographical fiction. There followed German Life and Literature (1880 – studies of Lessing, Goethe, Moses Mendelssohn, Herder, Novalis, and other writers) – and 3 volumes of verse: The Circle of the Year: A sonnet sequence with proem and envoi (privately printed, 1893); Dramatic Pictures, English Rispetti, Sonnets and other verses (1894); and Adam and Lilith: A poem in four parts (1899, by "A.F. Scot"). Scientific speculation and observation are themes of his Animal Anecdotes arranged on a New Principle (by "H.A. Page," 1887), an attempt to show that the faculties of certain animals differ in degree rather than in kind from those of men; Offering and Sacrifice: An essay in comparative customs and religious evelopment (by "A.F. Scot," 1899); Some Heresies in Ethnology and Anthropology under his own name (1899); Our Common Cuckoo and other Cuckoos and Parasitical Birds (1899), a criticism of the Darwinian view of parasitism; and Darwin Considered Mainly as Ethical Thinker (1901), a criticism of the hypothesis of natural selection. Japp married (1) in 1863 Elizabeth Paul (died 1888), daughter of John Falconer of Laurencekirk, Kincardineshire; (2) Eliza Love, of Scottish descent. By his first wife he had 7 children. From 1884 till 1900 Japp lived at Elmstead, near Colchester, where he cultivated his taste for natural history. When past 50 he taught himself Hebrew. He left in manuscript a work on Hebrew rites and customs, as well as a study of social life in the middle ages. After 3 years in London he finally settled at Coulsdon, Surrey, in September 1903. There, busy to the last, he died in on 29 Sept. 1905, and was buried in Abney Park cemetery. His temperament was almost morbidly sensitive, but he was generous to young authors. Recognition He received an LL.D. from Glasgow University in 1879. In 1880 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1857 William McTaggart painted his portrait, which is in the possession of the family. Publications Poetry * The Circle of the Year: a Sonnet Sequence with Proem and Envoi. London: privately published, printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, 1893 * Dramatic Pictures, English Rispetti. Sonnets and other Verses. London: Chatto & Windus, 1894. * Lilith and Adam: A poem, in four parts. London: T. Burleigh, 1899. Short fiction * Lights on the Way: Some tales within a tale. London: Chatto & Windus, 1878. Non-fiction * Three Great Teachers of our own Time: Carlyle, Tennyson, and Ruskin. London: Smith, Elder, 1865. * The Memoir of Nathaniel Hawthorne. London: H.S. King, 1872. * Thoreau: His life and aims; a study. London: Chatto & Windus, 1870, 1901; Boston: J.R. Osgood, 1877. * German Life and Literature. London: M. Japp, 1880. * Animal Anecdotes arranged on a New Principle, 1887 *''Master Missionaries: Chapters in pioneer effort throughout the world''. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1892. * Offering and Sacrifice: An essay in comparative customs and religious development. London: T. Burleigh, 1899. *''Some Heresies in Ethnology and Anthropology Dealt with''. London: T. Burleigh, 1899. *''Our Common Cuckoo; and other cuckoos and parasitical birds''. London: T. Burleigh, 1899. * Darwin considered mainly as Ethical Thinker. London: J. Bale, 1901. * Robert Louis Stevenson: a Record, an Estimate, and a Memorial. London: T.W. Laurie, 1905. Edited *Thomas De Quincey, His Life and Writings; with unpublished correspondence. London: John Hogg, 1877; New York: Scribner, Armstrong, 1877. * De Quincey Memorials: Being letters and other records here first published. London: Heinemann, 1891. * De Quincey's 'Posthumous Works' ''. London: Heinemann; ''Volume. I,. 1891; Volumume II, 1893. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Alexander Hay Japp, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 14, 2017. See also *List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 13, 2017. Notes External links ;Poems *Japp in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895: "A Music Lesson," "Landor," "Shelley," "Memories" ;About * Japp, Alexander Hay